Here Comes the Sun

Today, as I was walking down Locust with the sun beating down on me, I realized what I love about Penn. Yes, it is three days before finals start (hence my procrastinating studying by writing this!) but Penn students are not inside locked away and completely stressing out, but they are outside. They are outside running, biking, shopping, eating ice cream, and yes, even studying. It felt like the last day of school. Everyone was smiling and excited, and, in shorts!

Penn is a great campus, but so many people visit during the winter months. The campus architecture is gorgeous, but Penn isn’t really alive until it’s at least 70 degrees. It really feels like college when the Frisbees come out of the closet! Even though I am on the dining plan (as all freshmen are required to be…) there are great places to sit outside and grab lunch/dinner/dessert which go unused for so much of the year. If the weather persists, I don’t think my dining dollars are going to get much use.

I am trying to make two points: The first, Penn is really unique in that it offers unparalleled academics in a much more relaxed atmosphere. I think you’d be hard pressed to find Harvard of Princeton kids outside playing baseball with fewer than 72 hours until their next exam. The second, for all you prospectives, don’t judge Penn by your winter visits. Yes, we’re on the east coast and it is reasonably cold during the winter, but when the sun starts to shine, the campus really wakes up.

I suppose I should quit putting off my studying, as I am one of the unfortunate ones who have a 9am exam on Thursday…

Thoughts on this last Week of Classes

One of the greatest attributes of Penn is having the entire city of Philadelphia at your fingertips. Case in point, today I went to the Franklin Institute to walk through the King Tut exhibit. I guess that kind of makes me a dork, but I love history. In literally a ten minute cab ride, I was at this fabulous museum. Apart from the exhibit, they have a huge IMAX theater (it makes you a bit nauseous, but it’s totally worth it) and tons of other interactive activities.

After the museum, I experienced another great part of Philadelphia—the food! I ate at Continental Midtown. I definitely recommend making this a stop on your visit to Penn or at some point freshman year. Philadelphia has SOOO many great restaurants, it makes being on a meal plan frustrating at times. If you ever need a recommendation for a restaurant, send it my way!

Tonight was also the last chapter meeting of the year for my sorority. I listened to every senior regale the chapter with stories from their Penn experience. While I was sitting there, I couldn’t help but to notice the emotions that filled the room. Everyone was crying—the underclassmen, to be losing friends, and the seniors, to be losing Penn. It made me realize how special it is to be at Penn and the incredible experiences and friendships the students all make. It’s hard to even fathom that in three days I’ll be done classes of my freshman year!

One last point…class pre-registration for Fall 2007 is currently going on. It’s absolutely crazy. Everyone is sitting by their computers waiting for classes to open up. Advice to future pre-frosh: You probably won’t get into any of the classes you really want first semester, but this forces you to take things (like Linguistics!) that you never were interested in but enjoy learning about. This semester I actually got my top choices and don’t have to be a part of the rat race that is course registration. It's pretty exciting. I have to run and finish up the million papers I have due this week!